Food and discussion begins at 12:30 pm. Everyone invited.

In January, the Supreme Court addressed the constitutionality of GPS tracking of motor vehicles. Although the facts of the case involved GPS tracking specifically, the decision had the potential to effect 4th Amendment protections and the right to privacy for many information technologies — including everyday interactions on the internet. The Court was unanimous in affirming that the tracking in issue was unconstitutional. However, it did so in three separate opinions and offered different grounds for the affirmance. How might these opinions affect future legislation? What guidance do the opinions give law enforcement?

Bio:

Ronald J. Hedges is of counsel to Corodemus & Corodemus and is the principal of Ronald J. Hedges, LLC. He has extensive experience in e-discovery and in the management of complex litigation and has served as a special master, arbitrator and mediator. Mr. Hedges was a United States Magistrate Judge in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey from 1986 to 2007. While a magistrate judge, he was the Compliance Judge for the Court Mediation Program, a member of the Lawyers Advisory Committee, and both a member and reporter for the Civil Justice Reform Act Advisory Committee. From 2001 to 2005 he was a member of the Advisory Group of Magistrate Judges. Mr. Hedges was an adjunct professor at Seton Hall University School, where he taught mediation skills (1993-2007). He is currently an adjunct faculty member at Georgetown University Law Center, where he has taught an introduction to electronic discovery and evidence since 2006. He has also been named a Visiting Research Collaborator in the Center for Information Technology of Princeton University for 2010-11 and 2011-12.

Mr. Hedges’ publications include Managing Discovery of Electronic Information; A Pocket Guide for Judges (co-author) (Federal Judicial Center: 2007), Discovery of Electronically Stored Information: Surveying the Legal Landscape (BNA: 2007), The Sedona Guidelines: Best Practices Addressing Protective Orders, Confidentiality & Public Access in Civil Cases (The Sedona Conference: 2007) (editing team member), “Case Management and E-Discovery: Perfect Together,” DDEE (July 1, 2009), “Rule 26(f): The Most Important E-Discovery Rule,” New Jersey Law Journal (May 18, 2009), and “A View from the Bench and the Trenches: A Critical Appraisal of Some Proposed Amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure,” 227 F.R.D. 123 (2005).

Among other things, Mr. Hedges is a member of the American Law Institute, the American Bar Association, and the Federal Bar Association. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Historical Society and the Lawyers Advisory Committee of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. Mr. Hedges is a member of the Sedona Conference Advisory Board, the Sedona Conference Working Group on Protective Orders, Confidentiality, and Public Access, and the Sedona Conference Working Group on Best Practices for Electronic Document Retention & Production. He is also a member of the Law Alumni Board (emeritus) and the advisory board of the Advanced E-Discovery Institute of Georgetown University Law Center.